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Berisha in the past, Rama now/ German media: Former communists, or their descendants, have been running the country for 36 years
2026-06-16 19:18:13 / POLITIKË
For two weeks, thousands of people have been protesting in Tirana against luxury resorts planned in a protected natural area. A law student is now calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Drums beat heavily in the evening twilight. Red national flags and pink flamingos made of cardboard and rubber, placed on wooden sticks, flutter above the jubilant crowd that has been protesting for almost two weeks in front of the government building in the Albanian capital, Tirana, against a political caste that is criticized as arrogant and corrupt. Drones with cameras fly over the heads of the protesters. Rhythmic choruses relentlessly demand the departure of Prime Minister Edi Rama, even his arrest: “Edi Rama – in prison!”
“The wind of change: Berlin 1989, Tirana 2026” – that’s what the banner held by Ermali, a black-haired nurse who has been taking part in the daily protest, says. “This is our wall!” he says, pointing to the government building, guarded by a few police officers and with its shutters down. “This wall, which still exists in our minds, must fall and disappear.” Whether it was Berisha then or Rama now, “for 36 years the country has been run by former communists or their descendants,” Ermali complains. But the protests are not just about luxury resorts planned in protected natural areas. “People are tired. They are fed up with a system where a few people get what they want without worrying about the people, the law and their country.”
Trump's son-in-law plans luxury resort
Albania, a candidate country for the European Union, continues to face tensions. For some time, the protests dubbed the "Flamingo Protests", which have been going on for two weeks against two luxury resorts planned by a consortium including Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in the protected area of the Vjosa-Narta delta, have turned into a revolt against the country's political elite. The powerful Prime Minister, who has been in power for 13 years, Edi Rama, is increasingly facing demands for accountability.
Rama is openly expressing his discontent. He complains about a “sea of lies and half-truths.” Although images of bulldozers working on sand dunes circulated online in late May, Rama continues to deny that construction has begun illegally. “The plans are not finished yet. There is no project and no permit has been issued,” he declares.
Concerned environmental organizations
Albanian environmental protection organizations claim otherwise. According to them, illegal construction has begun on a new eight-kilometer road and a bridge in the Vjosa delta, an untouched habitat where many species of birds shelter and breed.
Since, two weeks ago, during protests by angry residents in the coastal village of Zvernec near Vlora, a protester was neutralized by private guards and dragged along the beach, the wave of protests dubbed the “Flamingo Revolution” has been causing Rama more and more difficulties.
The prime minister argues that private owners have the right to fence their properties, as anywhere else in the world. Albania is not “a banana republic,” he says. According to Rama, the fact that he wants to develop Albania through a four billion euro investment is unfairly portraying him as a “flamingo killer” who is selling islands to oligarchs.
In a protest banner, two flamingos with their powerful beaks have grabbed two politicians, Rama and former president Sali Berisha, by the collars.
“Our goal is the resignation of the prime minister,” says Ardit Minarolli, one of the organizers of the protests, confidently. According to the law student, Rama has made many promises during his 13 years in power. “But the only thing he has achieved is that a large number of people have emigrated and that for those, like me, who want to stay, life has become increasingly difficult.”
For now, the forces of the “Flamingo Revolution” still seem limited. However, cracks are increasingly appearing in Rama’s image of power. According to opposition MP Jorida Tabaku, the prime minister’s nervousness is not so much related to the protests as to the loss of influence on social networks.
"He loves being the king of social media. But he has already lost that position and that battle ," she says./ Translated by Alfapress.al, taken from Fr.de
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